


I'm Alone Up In My Tree

by Wind_Ryder



Series: Non-Stop Gifts/AUs [11]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Child Neglect, First Meetings, Foreign Exchange Student, Friendship, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-29
Updated: 2016-05-29
Packaged: 2018-07-10 23:06:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7011886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wind_Ryder/pseuds/Wind_Ryder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: Hercules and Lafayette's first meeting in Non-Stop Verse?<br/>___</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm Alone Up In My Tree

**Author's Note:**

> A very happy birthday to AsexualOctopus. Enjoy!

Pierre's sprawled out on the couch. Useless. Maman hasn't stopped fixing Gil's hair, and where initially Pierre had attempted to rally to Gil's defense, now he'd conceded there was no stopping Maman. Instead, he flopped backwards on the couch, one arm over his face, fingers dangling off to the side.

_ "You're ruining your suit," _ Maman snaps at Pierre.

_ "Yes, I am,"  _ Pierre agrees. He doesn't sit up. Makes no motion to move at all. Just stays sprawled. Gil laughs, and is immediately given a scathing look from his mother.

_ "You are a terrible influence on my son," _ Maman sighs. From where he's being a terrible influence, Pierre lifts his arm just a little. Just enough for Gil to see him wink fondly. It makes him smile. At least Maman didn't ask Pierre to leave.

Ever since she'd come home and announced the son of a friend of hers was going to come live with them for a while, Gil had been waiting for her to announce Pierre was needed elsewhere. They'd been busy lately. A new merger is taking place and Pierre hasn't been by the house as much as it is.

Gil had heard Pierre arguing with his parents a few weeks ago about it too.  _ Do you not have enough going on for one child? Let alone two?  _ Gil couldn’t help but agree. As much as it’d be fun to have someone else around the house, he couldn’t help but wonder what that meant for things here.  _ I don’t have it in me to raise two children,  _ Pierre had gone on.  _ One is hard enough _ .

Gil had made a retreat after that. He’d not been interested in hearing anything else. Didn’t want to get caught eavesdropping either. Either way, Pierre stopped by his room that night and kissed his head. Hugging him and telling him that he loved him.

Maman was completely unrepentant. Kept making plans about how fun this was going to be. Insisting on proper wear. Getting Gil’s hair cut and forcing him to act and look proper. She’d even made Pére clean up nice. For all his grumbling and groaning, he’d gone along with it.

Now sat in his big chair with a cigar between his fingers, breathing out smoke as he swirled scotch in a glass.  _ “You look tired Pierre,”  _ Pére states. He did. Gil escaped his mother’s attentions long enough for him to look at his friend. The man had moved. Rubbing at his eyes with his thumb and forefinger.

_ “I’m fine,” _ Pierre replies. He sits up at long last. Straightening out his suit and stepping from the room. Gil follows immediately, tracking him toward the front door. Pierre holds it open for him and the two step onto the porch. Look out over the vast lawn and treeline.

_ “You should tell him not to smoke if it bothers you,”  _ Gil offers. Pierre smiles a little and nudges his arm.

_ “I do not mind your father smoking.” _ He always leaves the room when he does, though.  _ “Are you excited for your new...brother?” _

_ “He’s not my brother,” _ Gil replies shortly, crossing his arms over his chest.

_ “Don’t tell your mother that.” _

He bites his tongue from saying that he doesn’t tell his mother a lot of things. Pierre wouldn’t find it amusing, and Gil has no intentions of piquing his curiosity. He’d rather let that lay where it is for the time being.

There’s a car pulling up around the bend. Coming down the hill and entering the grounds. Someone’s going to meet the car and direct it up to the main house, and Gil sighs. It’d be nice to have a friend. He knows that.

And Pierre always asks him if he’s making friends in school. It’d be nice to have someone to talk to. But. He gets made fun of enough at school. He doubts it’ll be much different now that he’s out of school. The idea of having one of those brats from his classes actually living with him is awful.

He likes his house just as it is. Doesn’t want to see a single thing change.  _ “Can we send him back?” _ Gil asks quietly.

_ “Nope, _ ” Pierre replies. He rubs at his head again. Taking a deep breath in as the car pulls around.  _ “Marie, Michel— Hercules is here.” _

Maman comes running of course. Smiling and delighted. The car pulls to a stop and Gil manages to get one final glance up at Pierre who couldn’t look less enthusiastic if he tried. The car door opens are a small boy comes out. Dressed equally as stiffly,  _ Good God please don’t let this be an everyday thing,  _ and smiling awkwardly.

His parents had come with him, and Maman immediately goes to them. Hugging them. Kissing his parents’ cheeks. Greeting Hercules as if they’d known each other for ages. Pére does the same. Kissing cheeks with Hercules’ parents and immediately starting a conversation with them all.

Hercules stands awkwardly to the side, looking up and around at all the windows of the house. The porch. The ivy. He meets Gil’s eyes and Gil grimaces. Knows he has to go introduce himself.  _ “It’s not going to be that bad,” _ Pierre whispers to him before kissing the side of his head and leading him down the stairs.

Gil follows behind slowly, hands in his pockets.  _ Be nice,  _ he thinks savagely. Walking up to approach him. Leaning over he kisses Hercules’ cheeks.  _ “Welcome to France,” _ he greets as politely as he can.

Hercules lifts a hand to his cheek and stares at Lafayette. Clearly baffled.  _ “Uh...thanks.” _

His French is awful.  

* * *

Hercules’ parents leave within the hour. Pére tells Pierre he’s needed back in the office, and so he leaves to do that. Sending Gil a look that’s all but begging him to behave. Gil doesn’t know why everyone thinks he’s going to make this worse for them all. But he agrees anyway.

He shows Hercules up to his bedroom, and stands at the door as Hercules looks around. “Do you speak English?” Hercules asks awkwardly.

“Yes,” Gil replies. He’s proud of his English. It’s not as good as it  _ could  _ be, but he speaks it. “Maman and Pére do not. Or. Not well.”

“Yeah, yeah I remember that from before.” Hercules huffs a laugh a little. Rubs at his arms awkwardly. “Um. So. You um. Your...Jill…”

_ “Zhil _ ,” Gil replies. “Zhil-bare La-fai-ette.  _ Je m'appelle Gil. _ ” Hercules nods his head slowly.

He licks his lips and looks around the room again. Repeats Gil’s name a few times in a row, just to make sure that he’s got it down. Then he nods to himself. “What do you do for fun, Gil?” His pronunciation is much better now, and Gil nods approvingly.

“I can show you around?” he offers awkwardly. It earns him another nod, and Gil quickly starts leading his housemate about. He shows him the whole house first. Stopping at the game room so Hercules could inspect all the toys and systems that they’d accumulated over the years. There’s quite a lot of them, and Hercules seems fascinated by them all.

They’re useless things. Games Gil’s played more than once. Over and over and over again. When his parents are working and Pierre’s on a business trip. Lying when Pierre checks in.  _ Yeah of course Maman and Pére are here. Just like they said.  _ He crosses his arms over his chest as Hercules finds Pére’s favorite game. They haven’t played it in years. Pére’s too busy for things like that.

It doesn’t matter.

Gil’s never been good at it. He’d tried practicing, but he could never get the hang of it. “This way is outside,” Gil announced suddenly. Hercules placed the game back on the shelf and nodded his head. Following Gil out.

The grounds were massive. It takes a full day to manage the whole trek. Gil likes doing it when no one else is home. No one’s there to notice he’s gone, in any case. He can spend our just tracking his way from tree to tree. Playing pretend with imaginary soldiers. Fighting ghosts in the fields and coming up with strategies on how best to defeat them.

Last time he’d gone out, it’d started raining at some point. He’d dodged raindrops and dove into mud puddles. Screaming at monsters and beating them back bravely with a stick he’d found. He came back well after dark. By then, the staff had already closed down for the night. Food put away untouched.

Walking forward he pointed all the best things about the property. There was the old tree with roots so big you could crawl under and hide if you wanted to scare someone. And there was the mound of rocks that looked like a kingdom. And there was the—

“Oh that’s awesome!” Hercules saw the big tree with the rope swing. Pierre always told he he wasn’t allowed to swing on it alone. So he naturally swung on it every day whenever Pierre wasn’t looking.

Eager to show off, Gil hurried to the swing. Clamboring up and pumping his legs back and forth. Swivelling his hips to show just how far you could rock on it. He was getting his suit messy, but Hercules was grinning. Waving with his hands. “Let me try, let me try!”

Swapping places, Gil watched as Hercules easily shed his jacket and held onto the rope. His feet pressed firmly on the wooden board that served as the seat, and he rocked. He really got into it. Bending his knees and pumping over and over.

“Bet you I could climb to the top,” Hercules offers.

“Bet you you can’t,” Lafayette shot back. Almost immediately Hercules starts climbing one hand over another. Up up up he went. He’d almost gotten half way there by the time someone from the house decided to come looking for them.

_ “Boys! Dinner!”  _ Maman.

Maman never called for dinner.

Hercules looked up at the tree branch but didn’t continue his ascent, just slowly started climbing back down to the ground. “Next time,” he promises quietly. Gil nods.

He’s not sure what’s going on, but whatever it is, he’ll go with it. He follows Hercules into the house.

* * *

Maman and Pére are home every night. They both sit on ends of the table, Hercules and Gil across from each other.  _ “How was your day?”  _ They ask Hercules.

He tells them in faltering French that his day was good. He explains all the fun times they had. Gil stares at him while he speaks. He can’t remember the last time he ate at the table with his parents. Can’t remember the last time they were both here. Pierre’s seat sits empty on Gil’s left, and when he asks about it, they just tell him that Pierre’s working.

Don’t worry about a thing.

It takes nearly an hour for them to stop questioning Hercules and making him feel welcome. They’ve ordered dessert for tonight and offer to watch movies as a family. Gil hates it. He glares at his ice cream. Pokes at it with his spoon until it’s a mess.

When Hercules tentatively offers a movie choice, they applaud it. They’re very excited to watch it with him. They forget Gil asked them if they wanted to watch the exact same movie four months ago. They’d been too busy then.

They’re not too busy now.

_ “May I be excused?”  _ Gil asks quietly. They let him go.

He leaves the table without eating his ice-cream.

That night, he can hear his parents laughing to the movie with Hercules. Gil curls up under his blankets and goes to sleep. He tries to remind himself that he likes Hercules. Hercules hasn’t done anything wrong.

Hercules is a rotten faced little jerk.

* * *

At school, everyone fawns over the new kid.  _ Oh, tell us about America! Tell us about Ireland!  _ Classmates delight in teaching him all about France.  _ You simply must try the foie gras!  _ They ask him questions and kiss him on the cheeks when he comes in.

Lafayette keeps his head down and doesn’t say anything. He slides into his seat and watches them all interact with each other. Pulling out his notebook he starts writing. Doodling a little around the edges of the page as he waits for class to start.

Hercules eventually comes and sits next to him. “Do you like this class?” he asks softly.

“Why do you not you ask your new friends what they think?” Gil asks back.

“Because  _ you’re  _ my friend,” Hercules replies shortly. Gil...doesn’t really know what to say to that.

He stares at Hercules for a long while, rolling his lips left and right. Hercules lifts his eyes toward the ceiling and shakes his head. “You don’t really get along with them do you?” he asks Gil curiously.

“I stepped on Marie Antoinette’s toes when we danced last year…” Gil reveals. “And then tripped her over.” He’d been a public disgrace from that point onwards. Unless it was to remind him how graceless he was, no one at school wanted to talk to him.

Pierre had tried teaching him how to dance, but Gil just couldn’t manage to move his body right and he hated how he looked. Everything felt awkward, and his legs felt too long. His arms too short. Pierre insisted he’ll grow into his body, but Gil’s tired of waiting.

Waiting didn’t make Marie Antoinette any happier with him. It didn’t earn his friends back.

“Well she’s a right bitch so I think ye did her good,” Hercules decides. He leans back in his chair and tilts his chin up imperiously.  “Never much cared for dancin’ meself.”

Lafayette really wishes he could hate Hercules.

But even rotten faced little jerks can be really nice. So he smiles, and tells him about their teacher.

* * *

Maman takes them out for candy after Hercules’ first day. Hercules tells her everything. All the classes he likes, the ones that will be challenging. The ones that have good teachers. The students that were interesting.

Gil squeezes the straps of his backpack and waits patiently for his turn.

Somewhere between the candy store and the house, she forgets to ask him.

She drops them off and tells them she has to get back to work, but  _ “Have a great evening.” _ Hercules waves goodbye, and tells Gil he has an awesome mother.

Candy melts and coats Gil’s fingers. “Yeah,” he agrees. “She’s nice.”

* * *

His parents take turns being there all the time. Pére sits Hercules down and shows him his favorite game board. Gil manages to play a few turns before Pére reminds him that Hercules has never played before and it’s rude to keep him waiting.

So he waits.

Watching quietly as his father spends more time with Hercules in one month than Gil’s had with him all year. Watches as they make a boat in a bottle together. As they grill together.

Sometimes Gil passes over the tool or ingredient they need, but mostly he’s reminded that Hercules is new here. Hercules needs the attention more.

Wouldn’t want him to get homesick right?

_ No.  _ Lafayette thinks savagely.  _ Wouldn’t want that. _

* * *

Pierre comes back to the house for dinner one night about two months after Hercules moves in. He’s lost weight and he has dark circles under his eyes. He’s cut his hair at some point. Shorter than it’s ever been. Even Pére and Maman are worried about him. Telling him to sit down before he falls down. Fetching food and drink nervously.

Eventually Pierre waves them all off. Reminds them that he’s perfectly capable of taking care of himself, thank you very much, and he doesn’t need their fussing. No one is amused. Hercules never really had a chance to talk to him, so he talks now. And Pierre always listens when someone’s talking to him.

But he also puts his arm around Gil’s shoulders and pulled him to his side. Let Gil soak up his heat and comfort. Gil can’t remember the last time someone hugged him. Probably when Pierre last left.

It’s nice.

He closes his eyes and dozes while Pierre talks to Hercules. Eventually they’ll be done and Lafayette can finally talk. He always gets to talk to Pierre.

Except, they don’t finish for hours, and eventually Pierre nudges Gil awake. Tells him he should go to bed. Gil stands still. Watches as Pierre drags himself to his own room. “He lives here too?” Hercules asks curiously.

Gil doesn’t answer.

He’s upset.

And he slams his bedroom door behind him.  _ Fuck everyone. _

* * *

Gil skips school the next day. And the day after that. Hercules waits for him by the car, but Gil has no intentions of leaving the house. What’s even the point of going to school anyway? Maman and Pére hardly notice he’s there. So why bother? He’d rather take his epee and fight monsters in the woods.

At least then he could hit something and not feel bad about it.

There are a lot of things he wants to hit too. He’s angry. Furious even. It’s been far too long for any of this to feel normal. Maman and Pére are home all the time now. Fussing and caring about Hercules like he’s the answer to everything they ever wanted.

And Gil hates that. Hates everything about it. He slashes his epee through the air. Slicing through invisible creatures that no one sees or hears. They’re demons in the dark. Fairies and waifs of his own creations. He stabs them and imagines his sword can render them bloody messes on the floor.

Night falls. He skips dinner. He stays outside on his rope swing and climbs hand over hand until he reaches the top. Until he sits on the branch that supports the swing. Body shaking from exertion. Victory digging in under his nails.

Staring up at the moon as it crests the hill, Gil wonders if anyone would even notice if he disappeared. If he just left and never came back. Replaced so easily by the new boy and all his American-Irish charm.  _ “Love?”  _ Pierre asks quietly. Standing under the rope swing. Squinting up through the darkness.

_ “Go away,”  _ Gil requests. He doesn’t want to talk to Pierre anymore. Doesn’t want to pretend Pierre cares. He doesn’t.

_ “I can’t come to you,”  _ Pierre tells him softly.

Good. Gil doesn’t want him to come to him. He wants to be left alone. He pulls his arms tighter around his chest and sulks. Pierre makes a noise in the back of his throat. A kind of disappointed whine. Gil is unmotivated to respond. He just keeps his head down. Eyes closed.

He listens as Pierre wraps a hand around the rope. For a moment, Gil thinks Pierre’s actually going to try it. But he doesn’t. He pulls the rope a little. Testing its strength. Then sits. Sits on the ground at the base of the tree. Likely dirtying up whatever suit Maman told him to wear today for whatever meeting he needed to attend.

Pierre always dresses in layers. And Gil listens as his godfather wraps those layers tightly around his body. He doesn’t push Gil. Just keeps quiet. Huddling at the base of the tree while Gil huddles on his branch.

Gil counts the minutes on his hands.

One...two...three...four…

After an hour, he leans over a little. Pierre’s still down there. Still wrapped up in his coat. Quietly waiting for him.

_ “They don’t care about me,” _ Gil tells Pierre. Listens as Pierre’s breath hitches. _ “They never came home when it was just me.” _

_ “I know, love. I know.” _

There are tears pressing at Gil’s eyes and he swats at them. Rubs them out. Slides his sleeves against his face until they’re gone.

_ “Why do they hate me?” _

_ “They don’t hate you, love. They—” _

_ “They  _ hate  _ me.” _

In the morning, Gil knows Pierre will show him all the things that his parents do to prove they love him. The toys Gil always gets. The clothes he always wears. The food he eats. The fact he wants for nothing. He’ll be reminded that he can do anything he likes. Go anywhere he likes. It’s all because his parents work so hard for him.

They’re not doing it for him.

Now, Pierre tells him softly,  _ “I love you, Gilbert.” _

So he climbs down from his tree, and he gets a cuddle.

He avoids the reminding conversation when the sun comes up, and goes to school.

* * *

Hercules chats with him on the way to class. Sits down next to him all the time. Gil wants to hate him. He does. But Hercules asks him about his day. Hercules picks him for his team when they play sports. Hercules plays games with Gil and seems interested in learning more.

Hercules calls Maria Antoinette a spoiled brat to her face, and doesn’t care one bit when he’s every bit as ostracized as Gil is. “You’re my friend,” Hercules says. “Friends stick together.”

And at dinner that night, when Pére asks Hercules about his day, he turns to Gil and says “Hey, why don’t you tell them about Robespierre!”

Gil blinks at Hercules. Stares at him with wide eyes. Feels his parents watching him. Both of them smiling. Encouraging and clearly interested. He tells the story. Fumbling only a little, stunned when everyone at the table is actively engaged.

He wonders if this is what it’s like having a friend. A real friend. Someone who isn’t just his babysitter whenever his parents forget to be parents. It’s…truly quite nice to be included.

He doesn’t like being ignored.

 


End file.
